Communities with under 50,000 people won’t get a cannabis stores in this first wave

A band councillor from a First Nation community in northwestern Ontario says he’s “disappointed” to learn that his community of Couchiching First Nation is excluded from applying for the first 25 cannabis stores in Ontario.

Ron “Magoo” Archie is a band councillor in Couchiching First Nation, a community that’s approximately four hours west of Thunder Bay.

A lottery will be drawn on Friday to decide where Ontario’s first 25 cannabis stores will be located.

He said he was planning to open a cannabis store, until he learned that communities with less than 50,000 people can not apply for a store-front in this first lottery, which means the stores in northern Ontario can only be set up in Greater Sudbury, North Bay, Sault Ste. Marie or Thunder Bay.